Strikers Defeats Carolina at Lockhart Stadium to Earn Third shutout of the Season

By: Pedro Heizer

In front of 3,549 Striker Likers at Lockhart Stadium, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers were able to complete a feat that they have accomplished only a total of three times this season, earn a shutout victory.

The Shutout victory is the first for Fort Lauderdale since June 10 when they defeated FC Edmonton 1-0 at Clarke Stadium.

The Strikers defeated the Carolina Railhawks 1-0 in a game that saw the Strikers solidify their place in the NASL Standings. With the win, Fort Lauderdale moves to 8-8-6 and with 30 points, the Strikers took sole position of fourth place in the standings.

Andy Herron scored his eighth goal of the season in the 65th minute when he had a perfect right-footed shot just outside the box on a sensational assist from Mark Anderson.

“This wasn’t easy,” Herron said. “We came in with the right mentality. All we needed to do was score one goal and go from there. We got the goal, the zero and the win.”

Mark Anderson flirted with the goal all night long but couldn’t find the back of the net. Anderson had at least four solid chances to extend his rookie record of goals but the ball just didn’t roll his way this time around.

“We took our chances well and there were a few missed opportunities on both sides,” said Strikers head coach Daryl Shore.

After two games in which Fort Lauderdale’s defense seemed to lose its shape during the match, the defense this time around proved all wrong and had one of the best games of the season, “We were solid defensively,” Shore said. “We defended as a team. The big message in the locker room today was team defense for 90 plus minutes and I think we saw that tonight.”

“We worked all week on our defensive shape,” Shore said. “We made a couple of changes to the lineup and we knew we would get chances going forward. We knew if we could stop the bleeding defensively we could create chances.”

Fort Lauderdale now has a seven game unbeaten streak at Lockhart Stadium with a record of 7W-3T-1L.

Up Next: The Strikers take on the Puerto Rico Islanders in Puerto Rico before coming home on the 25th for “World Record Night” where Strikers’ themed sunglasses will be distributed to fans as they enter Lockhart Stadium while supplies last. Fans will be instructed when they need to wear the glasses in order to make an official world record attempt. The current world record of 1,642 was set at Wrigley Field, in Chicago on July 6